As Peter
Lombard sharpened his goose quill, his mind groped for an illustration. The
Trinity was truth, but a truth no less difficult to explain in the twelfth
century than it is today.

"...No sufficient knowledge of the Trinity can
be had," he wrote. "Nor could it be had...without the relation of
doctrine or of inward inspiration..."* That did not mean that nothing
could be said on the subject, he hastened to add. Things that we can see help
us understand invisible things.

"Memory, understanding, and will are one: one
mind, one essence...In those three, a kind of trinity appears. So the rational
mind, considering these three and that one essence in which they appear,
extends itself to contemplation of the Creator and sees unity in trinity and
trinity in unity. For it understands that there is one God, one essence, one
principle."

Trinity was just one issue that Peter Lombard dealt
with. Medieval scholarship relied heavily on authority. To make the task of
students and professors easier, the well-read teacher gathered crucial quotes
from the main authorities into one work. The result was his Four Books of Sentences.

Peter arranged quotes from the Bible and from the
church Fathers by topics in divisions called books. He subdivided all this
material under questions. Since the authorities often did not agree, he
analyzed their language and gave his own resolution between them. But when it
suited him, he made no attempt to resolve the differences. On the whole, little
in the work was original with him--which was as he intended.

In spite of this, the Sentences became the foremost
theology textbook of the thirteenth
century, admired for their superb organization. Long after Peter died, which is
sometimes given as this day, July 20,
1164,** his work was the standard text in universities. In fact, it held a
prominent place until the sixteenth century. It was more popular than Thomas
Aquinas' writings.

One reason for their popularity was that he left
many questions open, giving later scholars opportunity to suggest their own
answers. Scholars who wanted to make a name for themselves wrote commentaries
on Peter's Sentences. Among those who did were such famous names as Aquinas,
Bonaventura, Scotus and Ockham.

This popularity brought Peter's work under attack.
But the fourth Lateran council (1215) upheld his orthodoxy. One complaint
against him was that he stressed the divinity of Christ over his humanity.

Because of his influence as the author of the
Sentences, Peter Lombard also influenced church doctrine. He wrote that a
sacrament is both a symbol of grace and a means to grace. He decided that seven
church functions fulfilled his conditions--baptism, confirmation, Eucharist
(Protestants call it communion, or the Lord's Supper) Penance (confessing a sin
and receiving a discipline for it), Extreme Unction (anointing with oil as a
symbol of repentance and healing, usually when a person is at death's door),
Holy Orders and Matrimony. The Council of Trent adopted Peter's position as the
official doctrine of the Roman Church. (For the most part, Protestants limit
the sacraments to Baptism and the Lord's Supper.)

*The quotes on the Trinity are adapted into modern
English from Runes' Treasury of Philosophy.
**Although most authorities do not suggest a date for Peter's death,
Encyclopedia Americana, 1956, gives this as the day.

Bibliography:

1.Durant,
Will. The Age of Faith. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950; especially at p.
953.

Lutheran

Presbyterian

About Me

Retired. Reformed and Presbyterian by background, but dedicated to the Anglican Prayerbook with degrees from Presbyterian and Episcopal seminaries. Informed by both traditions. Not giving up the 1662 BCP for the Presbyterians and not giving up the Westminster Standards for the Anglicans.